Location: The United States of Japan
City: Tokyo
Residential Point of Interest: Ashford Academy
Date: May 4th, 2023
A lone van was parked outside the entrance to the prestigious high school, Ashford Academy. Within, were several men in black, worn out uniforms. All of which had seen better days since many had tears, faded colors, bullet holes, etc. But anyone would recognize the uniform. It was the uniform of the Order of the Black Knights, the hero organization that fought for the liberation of Japan, and later, against the tyranny of Lelouch vi Brittannia.
One man, at the head of the group, wore his jacket open, wearing it more as a cape, since he didn't put his arms in the sleeves, with a chain locking the top button. Underneath, he had a red and blue athletic jacket, zipped up. He has a red bandana across his forehead, whose tails went down to in between his soldiers. He was Brittannian, probably in his mid twenties, and he had a blank expression on his face. He looked upon his brothers in arms, and cleared his throat, garnering their attention.
"Comrades, this day has been long awaited, for all of us. The day we seek out true justice, and set the world on the right course. Today, we send a message to all the corrupt, evil, and those who abuse their power. To freedom."
"To freedom" all the other men toasted.
"Let's move out." He commanded, and they all filed out of the van, and approached the academy gates.
It was about lunchtime, so many students were outside, eating, enjoying the great weather that had been present the last few days. Laughter and idle chatter dominated the air around the outside area. Like many others, a group of students sat at one of the tables enjoying lunch. A pretty girl with glasses giggled at one of her friends antics as she took a bite from her sandwich.
"Huh?" she mumbled, looking up and looking at the gates. She swallowed her food. "Is that the Black Knights?" she asked.
One of the boys across from her turned around. "Huh. Yeah, it is. What are they doing here? Maybe someone important is coming." He said, turning back around. The pretty girl tilted her head in curiosity at the presence of the heroic soldiers. And then she dropped her sandwich, her eyes wide with fear and panic.
The lead Black Knight pulled back the hammer, chambering the bullet of his assault rifle. "All hail the True Zero." And all five men opened up on the students, massacring all within range.
"Move out. No survivors." The five men walked forward, in no rush as they started moving through the school grounds, killing anyone and everyone in their way. Teachers, students, staff, faculty, all were gunned down when seen.
"Okay, split up, same plan. Meet me back in the main hall of the school in a half hour, kill anyone you see."
"Sir." The men all responded simultaneously.
Alone now, the leader stalked the halls. He calmly looked in every class room, searching for any that might be hiding. Reaching the end of the hall, finding no one, he was about to head upstairs into the second story, but stopped and seemed to think for a moment. He then turned around and approached the janitor's closet. He grasped the doorknob and opened the door, to be tackled from a hiding student. The student was a large male, definitely from one of the sports teams, and his tackle caused the man to drop his gun. He let out a grunt of pain as he was smashed into the wall.
The student chuckled. 'Got you, you bastard. I'm captain of the Wrestling team." He reached for the man's leg, but the man brought up his knee swiftly into the student's face. Then he wrapped his arm around the poor boys neck, choking him. But he wasn't done. He spun the boy around, delivered another knee strike, only to the mid of the boy's back this time, and forcefully quick, yanked the boys head in one direction, snapping his neck. "Impressive. I was captain of the self-defense club when I was in high school.
He retrieved his rifle, and was once again kept from heading upstairs, when he heard a whimper from the closet. He looked inside, to see a female student this time, with brown hair a very pretty face, and quite the large bust for her age, shaking in the corner of the closet. "P-please. P-please d-don't-t kill me. I'll do anything you say, please just d-don't…" she sobbed.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Anything?" he asked.
The girl breathed in and nodded her head vigorously, and started unbuttoning the buttons of her blouse. She was interrupted by the man chuckling. "Sorry, but no thanks. I appreciate the offer though," he said with a smile, and fired a burst from his assault rifle. He then went upstairs, to continue his objective. "Hmm, she was cute. Maybe I shoulda given her offer a little more thought. But I mustn't distract myself."
It didn't take long for the authorities to arrive. Setting up a barricade around the entrance of the school, a SWAT team preparing to go in. The officer in charge was about to demand the surrender of the shooters, when five men exited the school. "Medic!"
SWAT rushed forward, seeing five Black Knights walking toward them, one with a gunshot wound. The officer approached them. "Black Knights? What are you guys doing here?"
One with a red bandana breathed heavily, transferring the wounded man he was carrying to the medic. "We were on leave nearby. We heard the shooting, thought we could help. But we were useless. One of my men is even hurt now, because of me."
The officer held up his hands. "Calm down soldier, I'm sure you helped. Any info about the shooters?"
The man shook his head. "Negative. They disappeared after a short firefight we had. Didn't even identify the bastards."
The officer sighed heavily. "Damn. Oh well, you and your boys get some rest. We got it from here." The five men proceeded to their van, and drove off. The man with the bandana smiled. "Well done men. Today is our first victory against injustice. We have done Lord Zero proud. And eventually, we will work up the chain of corruption, and kill the heart of it all. Empress Nunnally vi Brittannia."
000
One week later
"Are you serious! We have NOTHING on this guy! Three major attacks in one week, and we don't even have a name? The guy walked in front of security cameras like they weren't there, and we can't even identify him?"
The military analysts in the room hung their heads in shame, under Gen. Tohdoh's words. Mostly because they believed that every one of the terrorist's attacks could be prevented, if they got an identity.
"Gen. sir, please calm down. They are trying their best. Yelling at them won't change that."
Tohdoh pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know Chiba, but the situation is deteriorating fast. There is still a lot of distrust between Brittannia and the other nations. This guy is backtracking all the progress to piece we've accomplished. And we've got nothing!"
"Well sir, the Brittannians were attacked too. I'm sure that they are looking into this guy too."
"They are. In fact, they are sending over the officer that caught one of the terrorists. The intel they got from him warded off an alleged fourth attack. Anyway, the officer they are sending over is going to work in a joint operation with one of the Prime Minister's agents." Tohdoh answered.
"Wait, I'm what now?" A voice asked from the doorway to the office.
Tohdoh turned. "Ah Kallen. It's wonderful to see you again. I wish it were under better circumstances."
"Same here. But don't change the subject. I'm working with a Brittannian? Who?"
"I don't know his name. Just that he was the officer that was able to catch one of the bastards."
Kallen groaned. "So I'm working with a cop? Just fantastic. He better not be one of the racist ones. I mean jeez, it's been five years, and some Brittannians are still fuckin' bigots."
"Which is exactly why you will be working this joint operation with him. The world, many Japanese included still blame Brittannia for most of the problems. This will help solidify our two countries relations, and improve Brittannia's standing in the world. It needs this, Empress Nunnally is a great leader, and we need her in this world."
Kallen didn't disagree with that. Nunnally had been one of the best things to enter this world. That and her family. 'Oh face it Kallen. The reason you look out for Nunna so much is because Lelouch was her brother.'
"Kallen?"
Kallen snapped back to reality and realized Tohdoh was still talking. "Oh, sorry General. What were you saying?"
"The Brittannian officer will be arriving at the airport soon. In about an hour. You'll be picking him up, because when you do, you start your search." Tohdoh explained.
"One more question sir, if I may?" Kallen asked. Tohdoh just nodded. "Why am I the agent on this case? Lady Kaguya requested me personally, but I don't know why."
Tohdoh walked over to a laptop, and typed in a few keys. "This is why."
Kallen walked over and looked at the security camera picture Tohdoh had brought up. Her widened slightly, then set into an angry stare. "Vance Hughes."
Tohdoh raised an eyebrow at that. "You know him?"
"Yeah, he was a Black Knight, one of the first Brittannians to join. I never liked him and tended to avoids him."
"Why?"
"The man is certifiably bat-shit insane. Back during the Black Rebellion, Zero kept his madness in check. I don't think he joined because he was a Japanese sympathizer, I think he joined just because we were causing chaos." Kallen answered.
"But we won. The Black Knights are still around. Why is he doing this?" Tohdoh questioned.
"Like I said, he was there for the chaos. He really was a terrorist, only with no cause. He just wants to see the world burn."
"What if Zero were to speak to him?"
"Good luck even getting him free nowadays. He spends the entirety of this time working for the Empress. And I doubt he would get him to stand down. Vance is a mad dog at this point, he won't listen to reason." 'That, and he probably noticed Zero acting weird after the death of Lelouch. He knows the truth. He knows, like I do, Lelouch really was Zero. He knows this Zero is someone else.'
"Well, I'll put a word out anyway. And now we at least have an identity. We can set up wanted posters, and give his image to Interpol. You just upped our chances to getting him." Tohdoh said.
Kallen nodded. "I should head to the airport. The Brittannian is probably gonna be here soon, and I don't want him complaining that he waited too long."
"Very well. Good luck to you Kallen. Catch this man, no matter the means. He is threatening global stability, so shall treat him as such."
000
The drive to the airport took about forty minutes. Well, the civilian one anyway. Japanese Military Command HQ had a private airfield, but it had unfortunately been the target of one of the attacks.
Kallen pulled up in her (to no one's surprise) red imported car. While she was never one to flaunt wealth, she appreciated good engineering. She parked in a government spot, and entered the airport waiting area. Once inside, she was quick to see her soon to be partner. He was the only one in civilian attire, with a gun.
The man had blonde hair, hidden under a camouflage baseball cap. On the forehead of the cap was a Navy blue star. His eyes were hidden by sunglasses. If Kallen was being honest with herself, she would admit, that he was very handsome. He had a thin scar running horizontally under his left eye, and his body was quite muscular, since he was currently wearing a tight muscle shirt with no sleeves. He had blue military style fatigues and boots. He was also carrying a large duffel bag.
Kallen approached him. "Sergeant James Washington of the LAPD Special Tactical Squad?" She asked.
He turned to her and removed his sunglasses, revealing ocean blue eyes. "Yes ma'am, though if it's all the same to you, call me Wash."
"Not a problem Wash. We'll be working together for quite some time. Might as well be on good terms with each other." Kallen said as she started back to her car.
Wash chuckled. "Agreed. I have to say, you aren't what I expected. Not because you're a women, but they told me that you were a veteran of the Black Rebellion, so I guess I expected someone a bit older."
"I did fight in the Rebellion. I'm Agent Kallen Kozuki." Kallen explained.
Wash's eyes widened. "THE Kallen Kozuki? Holy crap. Didn't think I would be working with a celebrity."
One of kallen's eyebrows went up. "Celebrity?"
"The greatest Knightmare pilot of the century? Zero's personal queen of Death? Even us cops know who you are." Wash said as they made it outside. He whistled. "Nice ride. Imported right?"
"Yeah. I appreciate good engineering, and when it comes to cars, Brittannian models never really were the top of the class."
"If it wasn't military, it wasn't top class," Wash joked.
Kallen chuckled. "True that. I know that first hand. Anyway, back to business. Our target is a man named Vance Hughes. He was a former Black Knight. Now, he's a psycho killer because he thinks chaos is fun."
"Any other leads?" Wash asked.
"None, but I'm gonna swing by Ashford Academy, the first target he attacked, and poke around, see if the cops missed anything."
"Good plan. Shotgun."
"Shotgun?"
"Shotgun. I call shotgun. Like, the seat of the car." Wash explained.
Kallen gave him a confused look. "But…you're the only other passenger…"
"Just making the point."